Tournament of Champions
by Daspletos
Summary: Video game characters from all over the universe compete in an epic duel. Who will come to the top? But at the same time a dark secret is lurking throughout the ranks...
1. Rounds 1-8

Mario was having a cup of tea with Luigi at his home. "Delicious, isn't it?" Luigi asked.  
"It'sa good!" Mario clinked glasses with Luigi and took a sip. "Where did you get it, anyway?"  
"I don't know; I found it in a box on my doorstep."  
Mario set his cup down. "Um, are you sure this isn't some sort of trick? What if it's poisoned? It's not everyday you find a random box of tea sitting on the front porch."  
"It tastes fine. If it was poisoned, we wouldn't be here right now!"

At the same time in another place, Kirby was also having tea in Vegetable Valley with a Waddle Doo. "Poyo poyo!" he exclaimed cheerfully.  
"Um... if you said the tea was good, then yes, it was!"  
Kirby jumped around. "Poyo poyo!"

But the tea didn't stop there. Mega Man was drinking some tea Dr. Light had received in the mail. "This is good! Better than oil, that's for sure. I wonder who sent this?"

"The answer, of course," a shadowy figure said, watching Mario, Kirby, AND Mega Man at the same time through a screen, "is me! But you don't know that yet, so I'll just stay undercover."  
A minion walked up to him. "Boss, when do we initiate transport?"  
"Some haven't received the tea!" he hissed. "We wait until these five drink the tea, then we do it. I'll alert you when that happens."

Once again, tea had appeared in yet another different dimension. Maxwell was enjoying his day without his magic notebook; deciding he needed a little break from it. He was playing tag with his sister Lily.  
Suddenly a cup of tea fell out of the sky.  
Lily turned to him. "Wait, I thought you didn't bring your notebook."  
Maxwell shrugged. "You're right; I didn't. I have no idea where this came from."  
"Perhaps it's a sign. Of... something. Maybe you should drink it?"  
"I guess it couldn't hurt. But just in case it does..." Maxwell pulled the notebook out from behind his back.  
"Hey! You DID bring the notebook!" Lily said, slightly upset.  
"Well I can't go out defenseless, can I?" Maxwell took a sip of the tea.

Dark Matter headed back to his castle. He had been pummeled by Kirby again. Stupid pink puffball!  
He arrived to find a package. Inside of it was tea.  
"Hm... tea? I suppose it could do some good." He drank the tea. "Not bad at all!" He headed into his throne room and finished it up.

"All right. Initiate it now," the shadowy figure instructed.  
"Yes, sir!" The minion headed to a control panel and pressed a few buttons.

Mario suddenly bent over, feeling sick.  
"You okay?" Luigi grabbed him, but he suddenly disappeared.  
"Oh no!" Luigi gasped. He pulled out his mushroom phone. "Princess! I need your help!"  
Little did he know; this was a predicament far beyond the princess' power.

Kirby vanished as well as he was jumping around.  
The Waddle Doo sighed in relief. "Finally. I thought he'd never lea-" He disappeared with a pop.

Mega Man, Maxwell and Dark Matter soon followed, tumbling through a dimensional tunnel for what seemed like hours.  
Mega Man was the first to fall out. He was in... a colosseum? Where was this?  
Kirby landed on top of Mega Man with a squishing sound. "Oof!"  
Then, tons of other creatures fell out of the tunnel. Luckily, Mega Man and Kirby moved out of the way.  
"Who are these jokes - MARIO!" Bowser growled, getting up. "Why the heck did you take me here? I didn't do anything!"  
"I didn't," Mario protested. "I'm as confused as you are."  
Maxwell arose and rubbed his head. "...and that's why I always take my notebook with me."  
"Wait, where did Lily go?"  
The other people who had drank the tea (Luigi, Lily, and the Waddle Doo) were among the large crowd in the colosseum.  
"I don't know what this is, but I like cheering!" the Waddle Doo exclaimed.  
Solid Snake got up. "This sure isn't heaven..."  
Bomberman laughed. "Yes! Bombs aren't prohibited for once!" Out of sheer excitement, he proceeded to set one off.

The shadowy figure appeared in the center of the colosseum. "Hello, welcome, welcome to what I call the Tournament of Champions!"  
Mario scratched his head. "I don't remember signing up to this."  
"You didn't," the person replied. "I brought you here. I'm assuming you all want to know why I have done so."  
"Actually, I want to know how I can get back." Bowser said. "I was in the middle of a lava soak!"  
The figure ignored him. "I have observed you all for quite a long time now. You have all faced plenty of foes and challenges in your lives, and to say I was impressed with how you dealt with them is an understatement. You could say I'm sort of into the entertainment business, and I've wanted to pull off the ultimate show for as long as I can remember. And a duel between the most powerful fighters of all time is just the way to do it!"  
"So... we're going to fight?" Dr. Wily asked. "I'm lucky I brought my Wily Machine."  
"Yes! But you need to draw slips to figure out who will fight against who!"  
The figure held out a box. "First up... Mario! Draw a slip!"  
Mario did so. He received a thin red piece of paper with the number 23 written on it.  
"So... you're number 23 on the charts!"  
This continued.

"First up... Queen Chrysalis versus Ganondorf!"  
"You'll never defeat me!" Queen Chrysalis hissed.  
"Oh, I think I will, bug... pony... WHATEVER YOU ARE."

Round 1: Queen Chrysalis VS Ganondorf

Chrysalis immediately went for the offense by charging at Ganondorf. He easily sidestepped her and slashed, but missed.  
"Let's see if you can duel in the air!" Chrysalis hissed, flying upwards.  
Ganondorf smirked. His hands started glowing and he blasted the ground with dark energy, rocketing him upward. "I can't duel in the air. I can WIN in the air, however!" He blasted a large beam from his sword, setting Chrysalis's wing alight.  
"AAH! I'M ON FIRE!" Chrysalis frantically flapped and finally put it out. "You will pay for that!"  
Ganondorf landed back on the ground. "I don't need to fly to fight you. You're a weakling!"  
He fired some dark orbs from his sword. Chrysalis did barrel rolls and managed to avoid all of them AND look stylish. "Look who's talking. You're too afraid to land even a finger on me!"

Meanwhile, in the stands the figure relaxed in his recliner. "See? I told you this would be entertaining. The fans sure seem to like it."  
"Well, what happens after the tournament?"  
"The winner gets to leave, of course! With a special prize." The figure chuckled menacingly.

Chrysalis launched green meteors at Ganondorf. He somehow blocked them all with his sword.  
"Mirror... FIRE!"  
Ganondorf fired the meteors back at Chrysalis, only they were purple. One hit her in the chin, sending her back a few yards.  
"Hmph, just a scratch." She lied. It was more of a bruise, but she didn't want her opponent thinking she was weak.  
Then an idea struck her. She fired more meteors at Ganondorf, hoping he would repeat his mirror attack. Sure enough he did, and she dodged all but one which struck her chest. Her tough exoskeleton prevented her from taking too much damage, but she made a fake gasp and fell to the ground.  
Ganondorf let out an evil laugh. "Victory is mine!"  
"One! Two! Three! Four!"  
Chrysalis was secretly charging a powerful blast.  
Ganondorf let out some taunts.  
"Six! Seven! Eight!"  
Chrysalis got up and blasted out a gigantic green beam.  
When it was done firing, Ganondorf stood there.  
"Ow..." was all he said before he fell to the ground.  
"Knocked out! Chrysalis wins!"  
Chrysalis gave a charming smile to the audience. "As if I ever would have given up that easily."  
Everyone cheered.  
"Intermission for three minutes! Next up we have Kirby Versus Link!"  
"Hold on," the figure announced. "Get the loser, guards!"  
Two muscular guards rushed towards Ganondorf and beat him to a pulp, tore him apart, decapitated him, jumped up and down on the remaining pieces, and sent him off to heck.  
The audience gasped.  
Chrysalis didn't care. She was too busy gloating.

"Wait a second," Luigi said. "THAT'S what will happen to my brother if he doesn't win?! Hey, let him out of here! We didn't ask for this!"  
"Sorry, kid. I don't decide the rules around here," the guard said.  
Luigi banged his head down on the table in front of him. "Great, now I need to buy some more 1-Up Mushrooms..." He murmured quietly.  
"And... that's the break! Next is Kirby versus Link!"

Kirby cartwheeled onto the battlefield. "Poyo poyo!"  
Link drew his Master Sword.

Round 2: Kirby VS Link  
Link held up his shield, expecting an attack.  
Which never came as Kirby didn't seem to want to fight.  
"Hey! Pink puffball!" The figure shouted. "I can't wait forever. Do something already!" He fired a bolt of lightning at Kirby's feet, and he jumped.  
Somehow Kirby managed to maintain the smile on his face, but he began to advance toward Link.  
Link grunted and readied his sword. Instead Kirby jumped over him and landed behind him, where he then proceeded to pull out a hammer and pound him in the back with it.  
Link was injured, but not too much. He threw his Gale Boomerang, and it struck Kirby several times before returning to his hand.  
Kirby floated upwards. Link fired some different beams at Kirby, but he dodged them all. What a swift fighter, even though he's so fat, Link thought to himself.  
Kirby flew behind Link but then jumped over him and swallowed him.  
Oh man, I hate this part. Link grumbled; he couldn't do much while inside Kirby's mouth.  
Eventually Kirby spit him out, and gained Link's green hat along with a sword. To complete the look Kirby put on a slightly more serious expression. He lunged forward and struck Link's shield. Link quickly countered by bashing Kirby away with the hilt of his own sword.  
Kirby and Link started clashing swords rapidly. They each parried the other's blow.  
Eventually, Link let his guard down for a split second, and Kirby knocked his sword out of his hand. Link held out his shield as Kirby bashed. Not good.  
He tried one last move and reached into his pocket with his free hand, pulling out a small cherry bomb. He stuck it to Kirby's head. He hopped backward and braced for detonation, and...  
It was a dud.  
Kirby swallowed the bomb and became Bomb Kirby. He started throwing bombs rapidfire at Link, who could barely defend himself.  
Kirby charged up a bomb, and then threw it.  
Link was covered in smoke, and fell down.  
"Knockout! GUARDS!"  
Link received the same brutal beating Ganondorf did.  
Kirby winced. He was slightly relieved, but he couldn't hide his sorrow for those who had fallen.

Another brief intermission was called. "Next up, we have Doppelganger Versus Mario!"  
"...Wait, where is he?"  
The Doppelganger sat on a chair, drinking lemonade. "This is good."  
A guard barged into the room. "Hey, you need to get out there."  
"And what happens if I don't?" The Doppelganger replied with a hint of defiance.  
The guard raised his weapon.  
"Okay, fine!" The Doppelganger put down his lemonade. "You didn't have to be rude about it." He grumbled as he walked out of the room.  
Once the guard was sure he was gone, he grabbed the cup and drank the rest of the Doppelganger's lemonade, throwing it into the trash.

Round 3: Mario VS The Doppelganger  
Mario jumped into the battlefield. "Letsa go!"  
The Doppelganger entered as well, but with a grumpy attitude. "Whatever, let's get this over with." He pulled out his notebook that looked exactly like Maxwell's notebook, except with inverted colors. He drew a flamethrower on a blank page. It came to life and he equipped it. "There's no way you can defeat someone who has the ability to create whatever they want. I am a god!"  
Mario equipped a Fire Flower and shot out some fireballs. The Doppelganger somehow caught them in his flamethrower and shot them back, but they didn't affect Mario. "Looks like I can't fight fire with fire..." The Doppelganger drew a hose and blasted water at Mario. Water got trapped in his clothes. He tried to shoot more fireballs but they were instantly quenched.  
The Doppelganger started laughing. "Let's see if this comes as a shock to you!" He drew an electric cattle prod and tried to hit Mario with it, but he dodged and put on the Frog Suit.  
This made the Doppelganger laugh even more. "You look absolutely ridiculous in that!"  
Mario jumped on the Doppelganger's head.  
"OW! Okay, so you're a bit tougher than I thought..." He tried to think of something else to create. "Aha! A giant eagle!" He used the notebook to conjure one up and ordered it to attack Mario. It picked Mario up and flew away, but accidentally dropped him on the way. The eagle flew out of the stadium and disappeared from view. Mario hit the ground and received a tiny bruise. It didn't hurt much, due to his experience with jumping.  
Mario used his trump card: a Power Star. He then proceeded to beat up the Doppelganger like a Mahaiyan water buffalo.  
The Doppelganger coughed up blood. "Oh, it's ON!"  
He drew a T-Rex. "Charge!" The T-Rex ran into Mario... and was tossed into the air. However, Mario's star power was just about worn out.  
Mario grabbed a pole, and the Doppelganger drew one. They started clashing for about five minutes.  
Mario's quick reflexes saved him from something.  
He jumped back as the T-Rex crushed the Doppelganger.  
"Knock-out! I guess...?"  
Mario put down the pole and walked away, not wanted to see what would happen to the Doppelganger next. "Well, it seems the creation has bested the creator."

Lily, watching from the stands, said, "He may have stolen some of the starites, but I actually feel... sorry for him."  
"I see your point. No one deserves to be killed like THAT," Maxwell said.  
Luigi was cheering. "YEAH! You did it, bro!" Maxwell glared at him.  
Luigi gave a nervous laugh and stopped cheering. "...Sorry for your loss."  
"Congratulations on Mario winning," Maxwell said, a bit softer.  
"Next up, we have Solid Snake versus Psycho Mantis!"

Round 4: Solid Snake VS Psycho Mantis  
"Oh great, not this guy again..." Snake grumbled.  
"I am... PSYCHO MANTIS!"  
Psycho Mantis started telepathically throwing objects at Snake.  
Snake managed to shoot a few objects away with his gun while dodging the tougher obstacles.  
"This time I have a method of preventing you from reading me!" Snake threw out a grenade which released some special gas.  
Psycho Mantis, wearing a gas mask was unaffected. "You're much dumber than you look." He teleported behind Snake and kicked him in the back. "Yes, this will be quick and painless if you just hold still for one moment." He raised his fist, and sharp claws came out of the glove he was wearing. "This is where it truly ends!" He stabbed Snake in the back.  
And he heard a clinking noise. Snake smiled. "Did you think I wasn't wearing any armor?" To accompany Mantis' realization of the metal vest, a gun came out of Snake's back. "FOXHOUND has really been improving their technology lately." The gun shot him in the arm. He fell back, grasping his wrist as Snake got up from the ground.  
Snake took out a missile launcher and fired three of them. Psycho Mantis teleported several times around the arena, but they kept homing in.  
He teleported out of the arena, causing them to hit a wall.  
"Yes!"  
"Um, you lost," Snake pointed out.  
"Um... no... no no NO NO NO!"  
"GUARDS!" the figure screamed.  
Psycho Mantis wasn't able to escape them in time, and what happened next couldn't be seen from behind the wall but it certainly sounded painful.  
"Maybe he'll listen and actually DIE this time." Snake put down his weapons and stormed back to the stands emotionlessly.

"Next up, Dr. Wily versus Mr. Sandman!"

Mr. Sandman growled. "You're going down, punk!"  
"I'm not Punk! He is!" Dr. Wily pointed to a robot in the stands.  
Mr. Sandman rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."  
Dr. Wily shrugged. "I heard you're a famous boxer. Well, you don't stand a chance against the Wily Machine!"  
"I'll beat your primitive technology with THESE babies!" Mr. Sandman showed his fists.  
"Very well then!"

Round 5: Dr. Wily VS Mr. Sandman

Dr. Wily hopped into his Wily Machine. He flipped the switch and it turned on with a mechanical humming sound. "Goodbye!"  
The Wily Machine fired out a buzzsaw at Mr. Sandman, who punched it with TONS of force. "That all you got, Shorty?"  
"This is certainly no ordinary individual. I may have to pull out the big guns." Wily schemed out loud. Two large cannons extended from both sides of the machine. "You can't punch pure energy. Let's see how efficient your evasion skills are!" He shot both lasers straight at him.  
Mr. Sandman didn't move. Instead, he put up his gloves and managed to block it somehow. "WHAT?!" Wily was baffled. "That's impossible!"  
"Now, for the Dreamland Express!"  
Mr. Sandman dashed to the Wily Machine and uppercutted it 3 times.  
The machine started smoking.  
"No! I can't lose now!"  
The machine exploded.  
"Wait! I admit defeat!"  
Mr. Sandman stepped on him. "Ha ha! Sucker!"  
He removed his boot and noticed that Dr. Wily wasn't the real Wily - it was just a dummy.  
"WHAT?! It's a dummy!"  
"Look who's talking," a voice said behind him.  
Dr. Wily was in a dinosaur-like machine.  
"Let's see if you can handle something twice your size!" Mimicking what Mr. Sandman had done to the dummy earlier, he used the machine to kick him over and put the dinosaur's foot on his back.  
Of course, he wasn't going to let himself get treated like a pushover. Mr. Sandman grunted and put his hands on the ground, trying to lift himself up.  
"How powerful is this man?!" Dr. Wily complained. He used more force and put more weight onto his foot.  
"That... that's nothing. It's like, almost as light as a feather!" Mr. Sandman laughed, obviously exaggerating. He pushed himself up and managed to slide out from under the foot.  
"That does it!" Dr. Wily fired rubber balls from the robot's mouth. Mr. Sandman punched the balls back, causing them to hit the robot's face.  
"No! I can't be beaten!"  
He fired out a gigantic laser.  
But the Wily Machine exploded in this process.

Both of them were barely standing.  
Dr. Wily gasped. "I give up..."  
Mr. Sandman chuckled. "I guess I wi - "  
Dr. Wily revealed a hidden ray gun he had stored inside his lab coat, and fired a simple laser right at his head..  
Mr. Sandman fell to the ground.  
"GUARDS!" the figure screamed almost instantly.  
Dr. Wily gloated at Mr. Sandman's punishment. "Not so high and mighty NOW, are you?"

"Next up we have Kefka versus Samus!"

As Dr. Wily limped back into the room, Little Mac gave him a cold stare.  
"...What? Personally, I think I'm doing you a favor."  
Little Mac scoffed and turned away from him. "There's a difference between hatred and rivalry."  
A lot of the remaining competitors were avoiding eye contact with Wily. As he realized the true mood of the situation, his spirits dropped and he silently mourned for the loss of his fellow competitor.  
But the silence was interrupted by cackling laughter. "Oh boy, Samus is next! I do hope she is finally defeated." Ridley said.  
"Do you have no sympathy? People are dying out there!" Mega Man said.  
"The weak die, and the strong live. This is the natural order." Ridley said. "That's how life goes. That's how creatures evolve."  
"That's no reason to enjoy the defeat of someone!"  
"Yeah, well I've been trying to kill Samus for far too long now."

Round 6: Kefka VS Samus  
"Let the party begin!" Kefka squealed. He fired the Light of Judgement.  
"Is that all?" Samus avoided the Light easily. "Take this!" Samus shot several rockets at Kefka. But Kefka simply teleported out of the way. "Sooooo boring." Kefka then cast fireballs at Samus.  
"Morning Star!" Kefka yelled, then fired a shooting star at Samus. The explosion created a cloud of smoke.  
"Sucker," Kefka said, laughing.  
Samus leaped out of the smoke and fired a Super Missile. It hit Kefka straight in the chest. "Well, that was easy."  
"It's not over yet!" Kefka said as he fired several more Morning Stars at Samus.  
Samus managed to dodge most of them but a couple hit her in the lower torso and left shoulder. "Agh!" Her Power Suit had a current of visible electricity running through it, showing that it had been damaged. She activated the jets on her back and flew into the air. "You can't hit me so easily up here, can you?"  
"Oh please." Kefka scoffed as he floated up to her. "This is but child's play." He raised one arm and it began to glow with energy. "Say your prayers, and hopefully I will make the inevitable slightly less painful!"  
"I can say the same thing to you, Jester." She raised her arm cannon and began charging it with energy.  
"Heh, you're kidding me right? There's nothing that puny little pea-shooter of yours can hit me with!" Kefka laughed, closed his eyes and puffed out his chest as if waiting for her to hit him.  
"Oh, I don't kid." She finished charging up and let out a colossal laser from her cannon. "Taste the Zero Laser!"

Zero, sitting in the stands, grumbled "I should have thought of that..."

Kefka kept his eyes closed and laughed again. "You're bluffing-" He opened one eye. "...Oh."  
He took the full-on force of the energy from the laser, leaving several holes in his clothes and knocking him to the ground.  
He lifted his head one more time, and gave a weak smile. Several of his teeth were missing. "Haha, izzat all ya got?"  
Samus, now wearing her Zero Suit, walked up to him.  
"Wait, Samus is a WOMAN?!"  
Immediately she paralyzed him with her raygun, and Kefka was down. "Sexist."  
Now stunned, Kefka uttered his last few words. "At least I was defeated by a beauty." Kefka then started to laugh as the guards approached him. Samus turned away from the grizzly scene and walked back to the room.  
"I should have known better than to hope for your demise." Ridley said to her. "You're much too 'clingy' to life to let yourself die easily."  
"Says the one who tries his hardest not to die every time we fight, but eventually dies anyway." Samus said with a smile.

Back in the stands, Lily was talking to the Waddle Doo. "Ok, I've got a plan. It doesn't look like there's any way to escape because my magic globe isn't working, but we can at least try to find out what the guy running this thing is up to. Then we can inform Maxwell and Kirby. And probably Mario too." The Waddle Doo shouted toward the far edge of the court. "Hey, Green 'Stache! You coming?"  
Lily tried to cover his mouth, but he had no mouth so she covered his eye instead. "Quiet! You don't want the guards to overhear and find out what we're doing!" She hissed.  
Attempting to deflect any possible suspicion, she shouted at Luigi. "The lines for the food court will only be getting longer!"  
"I'ma coming," Luigi said, trotting toward the pair. "What's up?"  
Lily had the trio huddle. "We're going to try to find out the purpose of this tournament. We have to find where he is first."  
"Ooh! How about there, in that scary-looking shack built in the stands?" Waddle Doo suggested.  
"He REALLY couldn't make it more obvious." Luigi rolled his eyes.  
They listened to voices coming from the shack.  
"Sure, the winner will receive a prize, but they won't be the only one. I'll get a prize as well - the souls of the losers!"  
"Yes, boss, I know," an exasperated voice said. "You told me fifteen times already."  
"But it's just so EXCITING! That Samus looks quite formidable!"  
Luigi almost gasped, but Lily covered his mouth.  
A guard walked up to them. "Hey! Authorized personnel only!"  
"We're not in the shack," Lily pointed out.  
"Well, no eavesdropping on the Boss! Otherwise you'll meet the same fate as the losers!"  
"Fine," Waddle Doo grumbled.  
They went back to their seats. "This is bad. REALLY bad," Luigi said, pacing.  
"What's bad?" A voice suddenly came out of nowhere, making Luigi jump and scream. He then turned to the owner of the voice and looked up at the face of Ridley. "What do you want?"  
"I got tired of arguing with Samus so I came over here to see what you guys are up to. So I ask again, what's bad?"  
"Oh uh, the lunch line's really long! And that's bad because I'm really hungry!"  
"I think you're lying to me."  
"No I'm not! Why would I lie to you?"  
"I could've sworn I heard something about you three trying to eavesdrop on the boss of all of this."  
"N-no! We weren't doing anything like that!"  
"I don't like being lied to, I have hearing you humans would call supernatural."  
All Luigi could do was shake as Ridley became more agitated by his obvious lies.  
"I'll ask one more time before getting angry; what is bad?"  
"Okay, okay! I'll tell you! But you have to be quiet about this." Luigi leaned in to Ridley's ear. "When we were listening in on his conversation he said something about keeping the souls of the people who are defeated."  
"Is that so? Why shouldn't we tell everyone about this?"  
"The more that know, the higher a chance that he might find out that we know."  
"I bet that you were going to tell your brother and not me originally."  
"Well, it's hard to say no to a giant talking purple space pterodactyl."  
Ridley sighed. "Fine. Your secret is safe with me."

"Next up, we have Chell versus Skelter Helter!"

Round 7: Chell VS Skelter Helter

Skelter Helter immediately drew his revolver and started unloading it at Chell, who rolled out of the way several times. When that failed, he drew his buster sword and kept slashing at Chell, who rolled some more.  
She fired a portal gun somewhere in the stands, and then shot one under Skelter. "AAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed. He fell inside and popped up next to Luigi, who jumped backward. "Gah! Don't do that!"  
"Shut up." Skelter used the revolver again and fired toward Chell. Instead of dodging, Chell fired two portals on the wall behind her. Once the bullets had reached her, she did an agile flip right over them. They were absorbed by the blue portal and spat out by the orange one. Chell grinned and raised an eyebrow.  
Skelter's eyes went wide, before he even had a chance to move he felt his own bullets slam into his back, making him fly back down to the arena. "Now you've done it, you went and made me angry." He growled as he charged her, his buster sword swinging.  
Chell merely sidestepped as he ran by and ran right back into the portal.  
He ran out the other one, slightly confused and dizzy. Nevertheless he was still charging. He leaped onto Chell's head and used it as a springboard to jump off of, landing in front of her.  
Skelter followed up with a few quick slashes, and then a spray of bullets from his revolver. Chell was hit by all the attacks.  
"I told you I'm a force to be reckoned with!" Skelter charged up a buster slash while waiting for Chell's next move.  
This time, she fired the portal directly at him. He rolled like she had earlier to dodge it, and then dashed to her.  
He unleashed the slash.  
Chell gasped for air, then fell down.  
"Knock out! Since she put up a good fight, we'll just take her to the boss!"  
Skelter Helter pumped his fist in triumph. "Yes!"

GLaDOS didn't seem very happy. "She loses, and yet they choose to spare her? There couldn't possibly be any logical reasoning behind that. They should have paired ME up against her instead. I would have shown no mercy."

"Next up, Bowser versus GLaDOS!"

"I guess I'll just have to settle with killing that giant turtle instead."

Round 8: Bowser VS GLaDOS  
GLaDOS walked out in a spider mecha suit. "You don't stand a chance against me, turtle."  
"I'm not a turtle!" Bowser complained. "I'm a Koopa! There's a difference!" He shot out fireballs at GLaDOS, who used a light shield to deflect them. "Pitiful. This shall end before it even begins."  
Resorting to brute force, Bowser wielded his claws and started slashing at the shield. "I'm the king of the Koopas, and you're just the king of-" "...Queen." GLaDOS corrected.  
"HEY! NO ONE INTERRUPTS ME WHILE I'M TALKING!" Infuriated, Bowser spat fire at the shield, which was starting to wear off.  
"What's the matter? Did the so-called king lose his manners?" GLaDOS taunted.  
Bowser growled, then went straight to melee attacks. GLaDOS scampered out of the way, causing Bowser to ram into a wall. "OW!"  
While he was stunned, GLaDOS fired a laser at Bowser, setting his shell on fire.  
"YOWCH YOWCH OW OW OW"  
He jumped around holding his shell until the fire went out. "Okay, I'm through playing games! This is where the REAL battle begins!"  
Bowser rolled up into a spiked ball and rapidly charged toward GLaDOS, the sharp points leaving indents in the ground.  
GLaDOS climbed onto the wall to avoid the attack, but lost her grip and fell on her side. To make things worse, Bowser was coming in her direction for another attack. The spiked ball hit her before she could get up, causing some sparks of electricity to fly in random directions. GLaDOS finally got up and moved away. "Fortunately, I am incapable of feeling pain. You, on the other hand... well, a cute little band-aid won't make any difference once I'm finished here."  
Bowser unrolled himself and stood up. "The only way you'll be finished is at the claws of me." He raised an arm and did a sliding punch, using his weight to make himself shuffle toward GLaDOS until he knocked her over again.  
GLaDOS got up and slashed Bowser's face. "MY BEAUTIFUL FACE!" he howled.  
"I would hardly call that beautiful, or even a face at all," GLaDOS interjected.  
"As soon as I find out where that stupid voice chip is, I'm going to rip it right out of you along with all those other wires." Bowser hissed in a low voice.  
"I'd watch my mouth if I were you. Someone could get hurt. And it likely will not be me."  
"Ha, you're all talk and no tussle. I dare you to actually try and deal REAL damage to me!" Bowser said, folding his arms.  
"If you insist." GLaDOS revealed several new, dangerous-looking weapons and guns.  
"...Me and my big mouth." Bowser murmured.  
GLaDOS fired all of them at once. The explosion was outstanding.  
When the smoke cleared, all that was left of Bowser was a pile of cinder.  
"Knock-out! Guards, get the dust and reintegrate it so he can be disposed of properly."  
"Now, if I could only do that to my test subject..." GLaDOS mused.

"Nice. Very nice. She will certainly be useful for us later." The dark figure said in the shack, rubbing his hands together like a stereotypical villain.  
The unconscious Chell rolled over in her sleep.


	2. Rounds 9-16

"Next up, we have Bomberman versus Porky! Y'know, the big spider robot versus the maniac. He reminds me of someone...wait. I TOLD YOU TO REMEMBER TO TURN THIS OFF! YOU'RE FIRED!"

Bomberman entered the stadium cheerfully. He couldn't wait to set off more bombs. This was going to be so much fun!

And then Porky came in on his spider mech and suddenly it didn't seem as fun anymore.

Round 9: Bomberman VS Porky

Bomberman threw a bomb. Big surprise.

Porky grabbed the bomb with his mech and threw it into the air, where it exploded. "You're no match for me."

Bomberman whistled, and a Rooey came to his aid. He hopped on it and started zooming around the arena.

"Get over here and put up an actual fight, coward." Porky wheezed, coughing a little.

"Okay!" Bomberman dashed near Porky and planted a bomb on him. After five seconds, it detonated.

"Ugh." Porky's body didn't take damage due to his immortality, but it still hurt. "How could I have forgotten my shield?" Immediately a glass barrier formed over the cockpit, protecting Porky from feeling any more pain.

Bomberman retrieved an upgrade on the field to kick his bombs. He kicked one at Porky, but he knocked it into the sky again. "Might want to consider changing your strategy."

Bomberman then found a Super Bomb upgrade. He charged his bomb, and then threw it.

Porky was unable to kick it.

KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OM!

The audience was covered in smoke.

Porky was in the Absolutely Safe Capsule.

"Yes! I survived! Oh, wait... how do I get out again?"  
"Well, since we can't beat him down, we'll bring him to our shack instead!"

Two guards carried the capsule to the shack.

"I did it!" Bomberman cheered.

"Next up, Zero and Dr. Robotnik! Robot with really long hair versus mad scientist. You know, I was created by a mad scientist. Nice guy...on again. WHO...oh, right, I fired them."

Chell woke up. She looked around, wondering why she hadn't been killed. She was in a dark room with barely any light. She could hear cheering from above. Thinking about it for a while, she concluded that she was being held captive in a dungeon below the stadium.

Several guards were patrolling the room. A bit of light illuminated the room as two more guards walked inside, rolling some strange container with a pig symbol into the room. There was the sound of something tumbling inside, with a few muffled complaints from within.

They set the sphere against a corner to keep it from rolling away, and it stayed there.

Well, for a few seconds anyway. Due to Porky's constant budging, he was rocking the Absolutely Safe Capsule all over the place. The guards had to keep themselves busy steadying the capsule. One of them complained about how they had to stop it non-violently since it was completely indestructible.

Chell saw her chance and reached down for the Portal Gun that wasn't there. So instead she pulled out her hairclip and carefully picked the lock to her cage as quietly as possible.

Now it was time to make her daring escape! They should have known better than to spare her; she had gone through so many experiments set up by GLaDOS that she could solve almost any kind of puzzle.

"My turn is coming up soon." Ridley said to himself. "My opponent is this Sigma person, I better ask that red robot about him before he goes in." Ridley then approached Zero who was getting ready for his match. "Hello, It's Zero right?"

"Yeah, that's my name." He responded.

"I understand you come from the same place as Sigma." Ridley tried to get on his good side. If he didn't, no knowledge for him.

"Let me guess, you want me to tell you about his weaknesses." He guessed.

"Yes, yes I do." Ridley bluntly stated.

"Why would I help you?" It was a simple question, really. Zero was smarter than he looked.

"Because if you help me, I'll help you."

"How is that?"

"Well I have some information on the guy running this whole operation. Juicy gossip, it is.."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, yes it is."

"Okay then, Sigma has a big head, both metaphorically and literally. It's usually his weak point. I've told you what I know. So what's this information?"

"Oh, that anybody who loses gets their soul sucked out of them." Ridley, being so arrogant he thought he wouldn't lose, was happy to give this info.

"Oh that's nice to know thanks." Zero said sarcastically.

"Try not to lose."

"You either."

Round 10: Zero VS Dr. Robotnik

Zero drew his beam saber. "Time to go!"

Robotnik hopped in the Egg Breaker. "Take this!" He slammed down his mace arm, creating a shockwave. Zero jumped over him and fired a crescent from the saber.

The machine shook. "No matter! Get a load of this!"

Robotnik fired tons of lasers from the Egg Breaker. Zero parried them with his saber, but one broke through his defenses and hit him in the arm.

"Agh!" He fell down.

Robotnik walked up to him and put his foot on Zero's chest. "Haha! I have won!"

"Shut up. This has barely even started." Zero dashed out from under Robotnik, causing him to trip and fall over. "You're a silly little pushover."

"How dare you insult the Eggman!" Robotnik ran back to his machine and hopped inside. "This is no laughing matter." He fired more lasers. Zero managed to dodge them, but then the lasers curled around and came back. Zero did a backflip over them and stuck the landing. But Robotnik wasn't so lucky; his machine got hit and began to shake a little.

Mocking him, Zero folded his arms and laughed loudly.

"This can't be!"

Robotnik shot out bowling balls. "You know what they say, the more the merrier!"

Zero slashed one in half. The rest harmlessly zoomed past him.

Robotnik shot out more. "You know what they say, the more the merrier!"

"Shut up. That was annoying the first time," Zero said.

"You know what they say, the more the merrier!"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

Zero launched out a beam from his saber, chopping the Egg Breaker in half.

Robotnik fell out.

"WAAAH! OKAY, YOU WIN!"

He dashed out of the arena in an attempt to avoid the beating, but couldn't.

"Next up, Ridley versus Sigma!"

The shadowy figure watched from the stands. "I always knew Zero would win. But I never saw Robotnik doing his bowling balls."

"Oh, don't worry. You're always right. Aren't you... Wheatley?" Another figure standing next to him said.

Wheatley smirked. "Yes. I am... hey, I fired you, didn't I?"

"Well, yes... but..."

"Get out."

Round 11: Ridley VS Sigma

Ridley entered the battlefield with a grin on his face. "I know your weakness."

Sigma grunted. "Who told you, Bob the Slurpee?"

"You know who it was. But you can't really do anything about it, because you'll be dead in about 5 minutes."

Sigma scoffed. "I've died 8 times. I know how to preserve my program and I assure you I'll be back when this ends, whether I win or lose."

"Whatever. Just don't get a swelled head if you want to win." Ridley screeched, and took to the skies.

Sigma unsheathed his lightsaber. "I think Zero will be happy to know I've learned a few tricks since we last met!" He said with a bit of a sarcastic tone. He raised the lightsaber and some energized lasers swam out from it, going right toward Ridley.

Ridley simply flew to the side. "Oh, please. Unless you can fly, you're not going to have an easy time fighting me."

"Oh, I CAN fly. I guess you could use the company, so I'm comin' up after you." Wings spread out from under Sigma's cape, and he rose to Ridley's altitude. "Feelin' lucky?"

"Very lucky, actually." Ridley spit a large fireball right at Sigma, and his wings were scorched. "You fell for my trap."

"Agh!" Sigma was having a tough time staying in the air. "No, I'm not going down this quickly!"

"Yes you are. Deal with it." Ridley clawed Sigma repeatedly in the face. Sigma had been too busy trying to stay afloat, so he was unable to fight back.

Ridley did a finishing blow right in the chest, sending Sigma flying into the ground. "NO!" Sigma was confident he would find a way to come back again, but he was still very upset that he had lost so easily. His body was paralyzed; he couldn't move a muscle.

"I'll get you back for this, just you wait!" Sigma's head shouted just before he was pulverized into scrap metal by the guards.

Ridley chuckled. "The result will be the same."

Luigi and Waddle Doo saw the shadowy figure come out of the stands.

"And now, we have Terra versus Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Waddle Doo caught a glimpse of something metal. "Did you see that, plumber?" he asked Luigi.

"The metal? Yes, I did."

"We'd better tell Lily."

They rushed back to her.

"We saw some metal under the shadowy figure's coat," Waddle Doo explained.

"A robot? I don't think that's likely... But possible."

"Well, we should watch this match. We'll see how it goes."

Terra and Sonic were in the lobby.

"You're going down! No one's as fast as me!" Sonic insisted.

"Well, try your best," Terra replied. "Kefka got destroyed, and so did your villain, Dr. Robotnik."

Sonic's mouth gaped in shock. No one had replied to his taunts like that.

"Well - well - good luck to you, too," he sputtered.

Round 12: Terra VS Sonic

Terra drew her sword. "En garde!"

Sonic dashed around the arena like crazy. "You're too slow!"

He charged at Terra, but she sidestepped and slashed him in the side.

"Ow! You'll pay for that!" He veered around and charged her in the back. Terra got hit but she managed to flip behind him anyway, even though she had already gotten hurt. She slashed at Sonic again, but he dashed ahead. "You're too slow!"

"You already said that."

Sonic ran in circles around her. "You're too slow!"

Terra growled.

"You're too slow!"

"You're too slow!"

"You're too slow!"

"You're too sl- ack!" Terra punched him in the gut, knocking him backward.

"Shut up. You're just like Robotnik. You keep saying the same things over and over."

"Alright, fine. You're faster than you look." Sonic got up. "But if you want to hit me again, you'll have to catch me!" He dashed away again, running everywhere. He even ran on the walls.

Terra stood there and yawned. "Are you going to attack me yet?"

There was no response; Sonic just kept running around.

"This is getting boring. And I don't like it when I'm bored. Now, I got this Bowser guy's powers. Let's see what they can do..." Wheatley shot a fireball at Sonic. It hit him right on target, and he fell down. "Stop running around! Do something! Or else I'll... uhh... well, I have to say I don't know, but... it'll be brutal!"

Sonic grumbled about not being able to get his daily exercise and ran toward Terra. Terra dodged again and brutally hit Sonic in the chest with the hilt of her sword. He was knocked back once again, and he dropped several golden rings.

Terra stole them before Sonic could get them back. "Hey! I needed those!"

"Too bad. They're mine now. What, were you planning to get engaged with someone? TEN times?"

Sonic was getting sick of this. "You know what? Forget it. I'm outta here." He dashed off the stage.

"GUARDS!" Wheatley shouted.

Two really buffed up guards quickly raced after Sonic.

A few minutes later, they came back.

"Did you get him?"

"No sir, he was much too fast for us."

"Drat!" Wheatley turned his attention to the crowd. "Well, it seems Terra has won. Congratulations, I guess. AND YOU'RE FIRED TOO!"

"Sir, your mic is still on."

"I KNOW! FOR THE FOURTH TIME!"

The other figure spoke up. "Next up, we have Travis Touchdown VS Dark Matter!"

Dark Matter stared at Travis. "A human?! I'll grind you into dust!"

"Just try it, fat-face," Travis replied.

"I'm going to go get some food. Want some?" Waddle Dee asked.

"Sure," Lily replied.

Someone was complaining about the food. "There's blood on the meat!"

"Calm down! We'll get some new stuff!"

Waddle Dee stared, then walked away.  
"Their food is covered in blood."

"Ew," Lily made a face. "How did it get there?"

"Apparently some skinless kid touched it."

Round 13: Travis Touchdown VS Dark Matter

Dark Matter drew his sword. "As that fine girl Terra said, En garde!"  
"Oh, I'll give you an en garde."

Travis drew his beam katana and dashed towards Dark Matter. He let out a slash, but missed.

"You'll have to do better than that." He launched several Sword Beams, but Travis dodged them.

"CHARGE SLASH!" It hit Dark Matter right in the eye.

Dark Matter transformed into his second form and shot out some energy bolts. Travis got hit in the chest and staggered. He stepped forward and ate his Blueberry Cheese Brownie.

He started throwing out gigantic fireballs at Dark Matter. Dark Matter swiftly flew out of each one's way.

Dark Matter let out an evil chuckle. "You'll have to do better than that."

"How's this for better?!" Travis chucked his beam katana at Dark Matter. It hit right in the eye again.

"Ugh... You almost killed me, but you didn't!"

He zoomed around like crazy.

Travis picked up his katana and waited for Dark Matter to come near. He then slashed.

"OW!"

Dark Matter exploded into a pile of rocks.

"Guards! Find a way to recreate Dark Matter so we can beat him up!"

The guards took him away.

Travis let out a yell of triumph. "YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"That battle was quick. Travis must be good," an audience member commented.

Waddle Doo and Luigi were investigating some more.

They bumped into - a living torch?!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! At ease!"

"Sorry, Mister Torch," Waddle Doo said. "We didn't mean to disturb you."

"The name's Fire Man! Keeper of justice!"

Luigi decided to explain about what had happened. He told Fire Man everything.

"I reckon that's mighty dangerous, partner! Well, I'll help!"  
"Thanks. We need all-a the help-a we can get," Luigi replied.

"Always glad to carry out justice."

"Our next round... Ness versus Little Mac!"

Little Mac gave Ness a pat on the back. "Alright, I want a good, clean fight. I know it's a battle to the death, but let's at least make this easy for each other. No matter what sort of harm we do to each other, we must remember that we're only doing it because we were forced to."

Ness nodded. "It's great to know that even though we have to fight, we can still be friends."

Little Mac smiled. "Okay, good talk. Now let's get out there and give the audience a good show!"

Round 14: Ness VS Little Mac

Ness immediately started the battle off by creating a power shield. It enveloped his body. Its power allowed him to absorb half of the damage that he would take.

"Alright, let's see how well your shield does against this." Little Mac rushed up and did some quick punches all around, landing all of the hits. Ness flinched a little, but didn't seem to be showing his pain. "Okay, my turn." Ness retaliated with a blast of light from his fingertips.

The light temporarily blinded Little Mac. Rubbing his eyes he stumbled around; saying "Hey, where did you go?"

"I'm right here." Ness fired out a PK Fire, but Little Mac blocked it. He flashed with a star-shaped light.

"Star... PUNCH!"

His boxing glove glew, and he swung at Ness. It almost hit him, but Ness rolled out of the way and sent out his yo-yo. Little Mac dodged each swing.

"PK Thunder!"  
Ness shot out a bolt of lightning, but Little Mac dodged it.

"They seem to be exchanging blows," a different voice said.

Wheatley glared at him. "And you're supposed to be WHO?!"

"I'm Turbo Man! I'm the one announcing here!"

"I thought I was announcing."

"Well, yeah. But I noticed that you've been firing a lot of people lately. So I decided to fill in."

"Oh. Well, that's bloody wonderful. You know, I think you're a nice guy. I'll feel bloody sorry when I suck out your soul.

"...What?"

"Oh, nothing. Is my mic on?...of course."

Turbo Man watched carefully.

"You're better than I expected," Little Mac said, dodging another PK Fire.

"You're pretty good too. It's an honor to have you as my opponent." Ness tried a different technique and used PK Hypnosis.

Little Mac tried to dodge it, but it had no physical form so it wasn't really dodgeable. He swooned back and forth a few times before falling to the ground.

"Knockou- oh wait, he's just sleeping."

Ness electrocuted Little Mac with a jolt of PK Thunder, waking him up instantly.

Little Mac came back and swung a fist at Ness.

Not expecting this, Ness took the hit and was sent flying backward. He hit the wall and fell down. The powerful blow had destroyed his shield. He got back up and tried to use another PK Thunder attack, but it missed. He changed his plan and looked up to the sky.

"PK..."

"STARSTORM!" Several white-hot meteors of pure energy fell from the heavens, their heat warming up most of the crowd.

"Turbo Man, would you please turn up the air conditioning? I fired my air conditioning guy because he froze me in my tracks. I mean, I know he technically didn't have a brain, but he was a bloody idiot. "

Little Mac looked up in horror. "Wow. That's amazing." But he didn't have time to say anything else, as the stars were much too close now. He quickly made haste and spent his time dodging them all. After successfully evading them, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "THAT was close."

One last star hit him in the back.

"Youch, that's HOT!" Little Mac jumped forward from the blazing touch. Rubbing his sunburned back, he turned around and rushed at Ness again. He jumped into the air, did a somersault and kicked him in the chest. He stood atop him with his foot on Ness's chest. "Any last words, friend?"

Ness nodded. "Sorry."

He lifted two fingers and tried to cast a fire spell. His fingertips flickered and fizzled. He was out of Psychic Energy.

So instead, he reached for his baseball bat in his backpack. He pulled it out swiftly, and quickly slipped away from Little Mac's foot. He raised his bat, and before Little Mac had a chance to react he had been slammed with the bat HARD, high into the air. He landed on the ground and ran out of energy.

Ness, being the good-spirited person he was, walked to Little Mac and lowered his hand, offering to help him up.

"DO NOT HELP THE LOSER!" Turbo Man's voice rang out.

Two guards came out and took Ness out of the battlefield, then ran back in to dispose of Little Mac the same way they had with most of the other losers.

Wheatley sat back in his recliner. "I wonder how the Star Punch will work on me..."

"Wheatley, dude. Don't forget our 50/50 split. Since you don't have hands, I'll take the Star Punch," a different figure suggested.

"Good idea," Wheatley replied. "Oh, it will be so good to get revenge on HER."

"So, let me get this straight: we're getting revenge?" the other figure questioned.

"Well, of course! You catch on quickly. You're after Travis Touchdown, I take it?"

The other figure nodded. "He cut me in half, and then this dorky girl finished off both me and my doppelganger. It'll be different now."

Turbo Man reached for the intercom. "Our next match will be Alitair versus Maxwell!"

"Well, I'm next," Maxwell said nervously. "That guy looks scary."

"You are right to fear me, speck of dust!" Alitair yowled.

"You'll win," Lily assured him. "I'm sure of it."

Maxwell nodded and headed to the lobby. He passed by the shack where Wheatley and the other figure were located, but didn't take any notice until he heard this:

"I'm telling you, I should get the katana! It would work better on me! I'm like a bloody god! Have you seen how powerful I am, pal?"

"Psst! Lily!" he whispered.

She walked to him.

"Listen to this!"

"You can't even wield it! Besides, I'm the one who wants revenge on him!"

"Oh, you want revenge on him. That's bloody terrible. Tragic, really. I guess that means that I'll have to give everything to you. If you couldn't tell, I'm being sarcastic. No. You get 50/50. I get the katana. Do you understand, pal?"

A guard walked to them. "This is authorized personnel only! Scram!"

Maxwell quickly drew a tranquilizer gun and shot the guard in the chest. He choked, and then fell to the ground. No one noticed.

"Let's go inside!"

"You have a match to do, though!" Lily hissed.

"Well, could we go after the match?" Maxwell asked.

Lily looked hesitant. "Sure," she finally said.

Maxwell continued towards the lobby.

Round 15: Alitair VS Maxwell

Alitair took out several bombs. "Get ready to have an explosive time! I show no mercy!"

"That's the spirit!" Wheatley cheered. "Kill him so I can obtain his powerful notebook! It'll be wonderful!"

Maxwell drew a bomb shield. "Try me!"

Alitair growled. "You dare speak to the great Alitair like that?!" He threw out his bombs. Maxwell sidestepped them and used his shield to block the force of the explosion. "Sorry. This won't really be much of a cake walk for you. I, on the other hand..." He drew a cupcake in his notebook and took a bite. Discarding the rest of it, he drew a sword. "I won't fail you, Lily." he whispered before he began to advance toward Alitair.

Alitair wielded another bomb and threw it behind Maxwell. Maxwell turned around to block it, but Alitair tossed another bomb behind his back. With bombs on both sides of him, Maxwell quickly struggled to draw a second bomb shield, but then realized if he was carrying two shields at once he would have to drop his notebook. He frantically tried to run away from the blast range, but he only barely made it and got his shoes scorched.

Upset, he redrew his shoes and created a First Aid Kit. He put it in his backpack to save for later. Then Maxwell drew a bomb of his own and tossed it at Alitair. "Have a taste of your own medicine."

The bomb exploded, and Alitair came out without a scratch. "I quite like that taste. Wouldn't you know that I'm probably wearing armor that is immune to bombs if they were my main weapon?"

In the stands, Bomberman pounded his fist on the table. "Darn it! He's getting smarter."

Maxwell sighed. "Fine, I'll try something else then." He scribbled, "Giant Enemy Crab".

A giant enemy crab appeared and started hurting Alitair. A LOT.

"OW! STOP! OW! IT BURNS! OW! MEOW!"

The giant enemy crab picked Alitair up and slammed him on the ground several times. This also caused his bombs to detonate, blowing up the crab.

"Nice try."

Alitair shot his stun laser, but Maxwell dodged it. "Whatever that is, it isn't good news." He drew the only thing he thought would work well - a flamethrower.

"HEY! THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Alitair whined.

"The WORLD isn't fair," Maxwell replied. "Sorry for this."

He fired out the flamethrower, causing all of Alitair's remaining bombs to detonate at once.

Even he couldn't withstand all of that.

Alitair was covered in smoke after the explosion. "Go ahead, guards... I have nothing left to live for..." he gasped.

The guards followed his request.

"Our next round is the final round of Block One: Twilight Sparkle against Mega Man!"

"Excuse me," Twilight Sparkle interrupted. "Isn't Mega Man a hero? I don't want to fight against heroes! It's unjust!"

"SILENCE!" Wheatley fired out a bomb.

Everyone gasped. That looked exactly like Alitair's bombs.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "...What exactly is going on here?"

Wheatley gulped. "Uhh... funny story about that, luv. You see, what I did was I... obtained some of his bombs. I mean, he's lost his bloody will to live. He said 'You bloody genius, take my bombs. You deserve them.' And then he died. That's what happened. Do you have a bloody problem with that?"

"No, no, it's fine. I guess I'll be waiting in the lobby then." Twilight left the room.

Back in the lobby, Twilight was sitting next to Mega Man. "So I have to fight you now... this is going to feel so terrible. Physically and emotionally."

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll try to go easy on you." Mega Man tried to console her.

"No," Twilight shook her head. "I want to go easy on you. If I have to fight a hero, I'll do it mercifully."

"Well I don't really want to hit a girl, and especially not an innocent little pony. So we'll both be going easy on each other." Mega Man said.

Twilight managed a grin and nodded. "...Thanks."

Round 16: Twilight Sparkle VS Mega Man

Twilight refused to enter the battlefield, so she was pushed in by the guards. Mega Man reluctantly followed after her. "Okay. Well, you ready?"

"No, I'm not ready, and I probably never will be, but I have no choice. Let's start." Twilight's horn glowed, and began to collect energy.

Mega Man raised his arm cannon and fired a few shots, covering his eyes with his free hand.

Twilight dodged and frowned. "No, we need to act more convincing than that. Otherwise that guy up there will punish us." She shot several lasers in the direction of Mega Man. Tears were visibly forming in her eyes.

Mega Man didn't want to see her cry. Relenting, he allowed himself to get hit by one of the blasts and was knocked down.

This didn't help at all, in fact it made things worse. A few of Twilight's tears wetted the ground. Without thinking, more magic energy was released from her as her emotions took control of her. Several beams of light shot out of her horn, veering off in random directions. None of them hit Mega Man, in fact one of them actually went up toward Wheatley. Wheatley used one of Alitair's bombs to counter the unintentional attack. "Such power... it's phenomenal."

More beams were released, and one exploded near Mega Man.

Mega Man got up and saw Twilight in emotional trauma. He tried shooting some more bullets at her. One hit her horn, and she stopped casting magic. "Aah! What did you do to my horn?" Twilight's horn felt a little numb.

"I'm sorry, but we have to keep this battle interesting." Mega Man shrugged. "I should probably tell you that I'm about to attack you again."

Twilight nodded and prepared for another shot. Mega Man fired out several blasts, and Twilight nimbly dodged all of them. She considered saying some smack talk, but she didn't want to offend Mega Man in any way so she decided against it.

Her horn recovered, and she fired some more lasers which were all easily dodged. She tried a different tactic, and encased Mega Man inside a magic bubble. She turned around so she was facing away from him.

Mega Man scratched his head, wondering what she was planning to do.

He found out very soon after though. Twilight's hind legs rose up, and bucked right at the center of the bubble. Mega Man was pushed painlessly with great force toward the wall. The bubble bounced quickly off of it, causing Mega Man to shake around violently within. It continued like this for a few minutes until Twilight used her magic to stop the bubble from moving. She set it down slowly, then popped it.

Mega Man stumbled around, unable to keep his balance. Twilight took this opportunity to step forward and fired several lasers at him. All of them hit accurately, and he fell down once again. Twilight was crying again. "I'm sorry I have to do this, but I can't leave my friends back in Equestria. They'll be heartbroken..." A large psychic spike materialized. Twilight raised it up, and prepared to deal the final blow. She saw the pleading look in Mega Man's eyes. Even with all the sadness, she could still see a flicker of hope in him.

She finally broke down. "No! I'm not going to do it! He doesn't deserve this, and I'm not going to hurt anyone if they haven't done anything wrong!" Uncontrollable tears pouring from her eyes, she grasped the spike hard and hurled it into the wall, shattering it into hundreds of pieces.

Wheatley grumbled something under his breath, if he could breathe. "Luv, listen. I don't like watching these people die either...Okay, that's a lie. I do. I REALLY do. But, we all know someone needs to die. So, it's either you or him."

"I don't care what happens!"

The guards rushed at her, but she teleported out of the way. This continued.

Wheatley started getting VERY steamed.

"ENOUGH!"

He fired out a Hyper Bomb. No, not the Mega Man weapon.

Twilight teleported out of the way, and it exploded near the guards, causing them to be knocked out.

Wheatley stood up and took off his cloak.

Twilight gasped. She had seen that before in science fiction novels!

"Yes, yes I know. Shocking, isn't it? You're probably confused about what's going on. Well, don't worry. I'll explain everything, you brainless little mice, running around in my colosseum shaped maze."

Mega Man angrily switched to his Metal Blades and threw several at Wheatley, but he created a spiked shell to block them.

"That's BOWSER'S shell!" Mario protested. "Did you skin him alive?!"

"'Skin alive' is a strong phrase. I prefer the term 'suck out his soul and obtain his powers'. It's a very simple process, really."

Everyone started grumbling and tried to leave.

"Wait! Where's the door?!" Skelter Helter complained.

Wheatley let out a maniacal laugh. "Oh, you rodents. Stupid rodents. Do you honestly believe you can just walk out the door? I thought of everything. I am a genius, far surpassing any of your IQ."

Ridley growled. "Smarter than ME? Hah, as if."

"This tournament has been nice and all, but I have an appointment," Twilight said.

Wheatley narrowed his eye. "I'm afraid your appointment's been canceled. Not in the literal sense. There's no way I can cancel your appointment manually. I mean, I don't know his number, and even if I did, he wouldn't believe me. I'd have to get you on the phone to confirm your appointment was cancelled. But that's not the point. You all are staying here until only one of you is left."

He called out, "Mega Man wins by default. Since Twilight showed bravery, and is also too hard to kill, and has an appointment soon, we will spare her. But, as you know, I am the most powerful being here. And the next time any of you try to trick me, or beat me up, or hide from me, or try to steal anything from the snack bar, I will find you. And I'll make sure you suffer an automatic...disqualification."

"On an unrelated note, come on down to the souvenir stand and buy some of our premium cupholders! Only $5.99!"

Mega Man facepalmed. Evil villain, his rear.


End file.
